By Kyle Beshears
Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
True Grace
Galatians 2:11–21
After defending the true gospel, Paul now turns to defend true grace. This holistic defense of the gospel is something that Paul is willing to do anywhere and at any time, even if it means stressing his friendship with Peter.
Confronted by Truth (11–14)
Paul was adamant that the gospel he preached was not “of human origin” (Gal. 1:11). He did not concoct the message, nor did he learn about it from people who created it. To highlight this point, Paul relays to his readers an incident where the gospel was compromised not by enemies of the church, but by a most unlikely candidate.
Due in part to the company of legalistic people, Peter began to deviate away from the gospel, exchanging grace and liberty for works and bondage. Soon he found himself wanting to please legalistic people rather than preach the gospel. Peter placed his fear of men over the freedom of Christ. He valued human tradition over divine truth. Paul could not stand by idly while Gentiles were burdened with works that could not save them.
So Paul publicly confronted Peter. Why? Because Paul is a faithful witness to the gospel and true friend to Peter. “The wounds of a friend are trustworthy,” says Proverbs 27:6, and in this case the temporary sting of public rebuke would become a blessing to Peter — a return to the true gospel.
Justified by Grace (15–18)
What is this true gospel? Paul reiterates that it is one based on the grace of God. It is the announcement that because of the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we are justified by faith. This word “justified” is so important Paul uses it four times in this passage. Justification is the ill-deserved, not undeserved, gracious gift of God by which He declares sinners righteous through their faith in the work of His Son, the Lord Jesus. When God declares that we are justified, we have eternal peace with Him (Rom. 5:1). Justification must come through faith in the work of the Lord Jesus because our works can never even begin to pay for the penalty we invite on ourselves by our sin.
Now it is not like works have nothing to do with our justification whatsoever. We are saved by works, they are just not our works. We are saved by the works of Christ through our faith in Him. Not faith plus our works, but faith in Christ’s works alone. His sinless life and work on the cross paid for our sin in full. The gospel plus anything else tempts us into substituting our works with the works of Christ. And that kind of faith is powerless to justify.
To illustrate this point, adding anything to our faith is like approaching Christ on the cross, looking Him in the eyes and saying; “That’s not good enough. I’ll have to add a little extra to your work.” This is why Paul was willing to rebuke Peter, who became too comfortable with a gospel that included personal works. May we never grow comfortable with the gospel plus anything.
Crucified with Christ (19–21)
When we have been “crucified with Christ,” we lose our life. But in the topsy-turvy economy of God’s kingdom, those who lose their lives wind up finding them (Mark 8:35; John 12:25). The symbolism of baptism illustrates this point. Through the watery grave, we experience a death that leads to a new life (Rom. 6:3). This is why Paul says, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
It’s a paradox to think that death leads to life, but Christ’s resurrection proved this true beyond doubt. When you place your faith in Christ, your old life dies, and your new life in Christ begins.
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